Chemistry Students Hit the International Stage
More than 190 nations will gather in Durban, South Africa from November 28 to December 9, 2011 to forge an international climate change agreement. As representatives of the world's governments and international organizations negotiate policy, a parallel conversation will take place among college and university students.
Five chemistry students will officially represent the American Chemical Society (ACS) at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) 17th Conference of Parties (COP17). John Canada from the University of Alabama, Kiersten DeBlaker from York College of Pennsylvania, Lauren McCullough from Penn State University, Matthew Denardo from Carnegie Mellon University, and Patrick Lestrange from York College of Pennsylvania will travel to Durban, South Africa as Non Government Organization (NGO) representatives of the ACS where they will participate in COP17.
The students will attend talks, take part in special events, discuss special interests with other NGO’s, and interview world leaders. They will employ social networking technologies—Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Blogs, etc.—to reach out to their peers and educators back in the US. The purpose of this project is to engage college and university students and educators in the international climate change discourse and to increase climate literacy.
The five students will be joined by four faculty mentors; Dr. Diane Husic from Moravian College, Dr. Donald Brown from Penn State University, and Drs. Keith Peterman and Gregory Foy from York College of Pennsylvania.
Five chemistry students will officially represent the American Chemical Society (ACS) at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) 17th Conference of Parties (COP17). John Canada from the University of Alabama, Kiersten DeBlaker from York College of Pennsylvania, Lauren McCullough from Penn State University, Matthew Denardo from Carnegie Mellon University, and Patrick Lestrange from York College of Pennsylvania will travel to Durban, South Africa as Non Government Organization (NGO) representatives of the ACS where they will participate in COP17.
The students will attend talks, take part in special events, discuss special interests with other NGO’s, and interview world leaders. They will employ social networking technologies—Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Blogs, etc.—to reach out to their peers and educators back in the US. The purpose of this project is to engage college and university students and educators in the international climate change discourse and to increase climate literacy.
The five students will be joined by four faculty mentors; Dr. Diane Husic from Moravian College, Dr. Donald Brown from Penn State University, and Drs. Keith Peterman and Gregory Foy from York College of Pennsylvania.
Background Information
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) sets an overall framework for intergovernmental efforts to tackle the challenge posed by climate change. The annual Conference of Parties (COP) is the highest decision-making authority of the UNFCCC.
The Kyoto Protocol was adopted in 1997 at the 3rd Conference of Parties (COP3) in Kyoto, Japan. The major feature of the Kyoto Protocol is that it sets binding targets for 37 industrialized countries and the European community for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions .These amount to an average of five per cent against 1990 levels over the five-year period 2008-2012. The United States in the only industrialized nation that has not ratified the Kyoto Protocol.
ACS participated as a UN-accredited NGO at a UNFCCC climate conference for the first time in December 2007 at COP 13 in Bali, Indonesia where the Bali Roadmap was adopted. The Bali Conference established the ‘Roadmap’ to reach a post-Kyoto Protocol at the December 2009 Copenhagen Conference. ACS was accredited but not formally represented at the follow-up COP 14 in Poznan, Poland (2008) and COP 15 in Copenhagen, Denmark (2009). COP15 in Copenhagen saw the largest gathering of heads-of-state ever outside the UN in New York. Due to a political meltdown at COP17, delegates could only agree to “take note” of the Copenhagen Accord.
In recognition of the 2011 International Year of Chemistry, ACS, through its Committee on Environmental Improvement, sponsored two students to represent The Society at COP16 in Cancun, Mexico. Students Leah Block and Anthony Tomaine from York College of Pennsylvania blogged for C&E News under Editor-in-chief Rudy Baum and used social networking technologies to reach out to their peers. They did a superb job covering individuals and events, especially considering that this was a pilot project without a roadmap. They negotiated complex schedules based on published UN daily agendas. COP16 experienced an unexpected positive outcome in which all 194 parties except Bolivia adopted the Cancun Accord—“a balanced package of decisions that set all governments more firmly on the path towards a low-emissions future and support enhanced action on climate change in the developing world."
The first commitment period to the Kyoto Protocol is due to expire in 2012. This puts great pressure on the international community to reach an agreement at COP17 in Durban. Five students representing ACS will assess these proceedings. They will employ social networking technologies to engage their peers and educators back home providing a student-eye-view of the conference.
Two students planted a seed at COP16. The five students attending COP17 will nourish that seed. They will engage a new generation in one of the most pressing issues of our time – climate change.
The Kyoto Protocol was adopted in 1997 at the 3rd Conference of Parties (COP3) in Kyoto, Japan. The major feature of the Kyoto Protocol is that it sets binding targets for 37 industrialized countries and the European community for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions .These amount to an average of five per cent against 1990 levels over the five-year period 2008-2012. The United States in the only industrialized nation that has not ratified the Kyoto Protocol.
ACS participated as a UN-accredited NGO at a UNFCCC climate conference for the first time in December 2007 at COP 13 in Bali, Indonesia where the Bali Roadmap was adopted. The Bali Conference established the ‘Roadmap’ to reach a post-Kyoto Protocol at the December 2009 Copenhagen Conference. ACS was accredited but not formally represented at the follow-up COP 14 in Poznan, Poland (2008) and COP 15 in Copenhagen, Denmark (2009). COP15 in Copenhagen saw the largest gathering of heads-of-state ever outside the UN in New York. Due to a political meltdown at COP17, delegates could only agree to “take note” of the Copenhagen Accord.
In recognition of the 2011 International Year of Chemistry, ACS, through its Committee on Environmental Improvement, sponsored two students to represent The Society at COP16 in Cancun, Mexico. Students Leah Block and Anthony Tomaine from York College of Pennsylvania blogged for C&E News under Editor-in-chief Rudy Baum and used social networking technologies to reach out to their peers. They did a superb job covering individuals and events, especially considering that this was a pilot project without a roadmap. They negotiated complex schedules based on published UN daily agendas. COP16 experienced an unexpected positive outcome in which all 194 parties except Bolivia adopted the Cancun Accord—“a balanced package of decisions that set all governments more firmly on the path towards a low-emissions future and support enhanced action on climate change in the developing world."
The first commitment period to the Kyoto Protocol is due to expire in 2012. This puts great pressure on the international community to reach an agreement at COP17 in Durban. Five students representing ACS will assess these proceedings. They will employ social networking technologies to engage their peers and educators back home providing a student-eye-view of the conference.
Two students planted a seed at COP16. The five students attending COP17 will nourish that seed. They will engage a new generation in one of the most pressing issues of our time – climate change.
